Related Links

PHILADELPHIA - Rising junior Alex Elias has turned in his Penn Red and Blue momentarily for the Red, White and Blue of Team USA at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel, representing the United States in four events.

Elias has completed three of his four swims for Team USA, reaching a pair of finals. His best finish to this point came in the 400m freestyle final where Elias was fourth in a time of 4:08.99.

Earlier in the meet, he swam in the 400m individual medley, where he took fifth in a time of 4:47.13 -- a time over one second better than his preliminary swim.

Elias' first swim was in the 200m breaststroke, where he was third in his heat in a time of 2:29.56, just missing out on the final.

His fourth and final swim of the meet will come on July 28 when he competes in the 5K open swim.

The Maccabiah Games is the third-largest sporting event in the world, with more than 1,100 U.S. athletes participating this year and 7,000 total athletes representing more than 50 countries. The Games are held every four years and serve as an international sporting event for Jewish athletes.